Article: I-66 in Kentucky stalling due to funding issues

[Revive 755]

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20091019/NEWS01/910190325/Controversial+I-66+construction+project+stalls+as+funding+dries+up

[RoadWarrior56]

Even though I am very much a highway advocate, this road never made any sense to me.  It doesn't connect any large population centers within Kentucky, and it wouldn't truly connect to any interstates outside of the state of Kentucky.  The route number doesn't even make any sense.  The money that would have been thrown away on I-66 in Kentucky (if it existed) would had been better spent on I-69.  All I can say to this road is "good riddance".

[froggie]

In my experience, there's one area of the proposed corridor that could stand to have some improvements.  Not necessarily what they're proposing for I-66, but a 4-lane corridor between Somerset and London is justified, as is a freeway-grade London bypass for east-west traffic.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky's I-66 was originally planned as part of the national extension of I-66 west from its current terminus.

I think the current KY 80 serves traffic adequately as-is. Plenty of passing lanes on the two-lane sections and I have never seen a high volume of traffic on this road. In fact, a Kentucky State Police trooper's murder remains unsolved nearly three decades later after it happened. He was shot to death during a traffic stop on the two-lane portion of KY 80 and there were no witnesses to any of it because of the light volume of traffic.

It can get a little congested at the eastern end of the Somerset-to-London portion of the route as KY 80 nears I-75, but there are only a couple of lights there. Not dissimilar to how US 50 eastbound approaches I-77 at Parkersburg, WV.

I actually think there is more of a need of a direct route from Hazard to Pikeville (southeastern Kentucky's two largest towns and biggest economic centers) than there is a complete four-lane from London to Somerset.

[RoadWarrior56]

I realize the origin of the transcontentinal I-66 corridor.  But over the years, most of the rest of that corridor dropped out, basically only leaving the state of Kentucky.  I remember a couple of years ago, I read the study for a potential I-66 bridge over the Missisippi River, providing a direct connection between Kentucky and Missouri.  As I recall, the study admitted that buiding a four-lane interstate bridge over the river was not cost-effective for the forseeable future, although I think it tried to sugarcoat that conclusion.

If KY 80 needs work between London and Sumerset, then fix KY 80.  But routing a new interstate across the entire state to fix some selected stretches of roadways does not seem a good use of scarce funds.  Just an engineer's (and taxpayer's) opinion.

[hbelkins]

I realize the origin of the transcontentinal I-66 corridor.  But over the years, most of the rest of that corridor dropped out, basically only leaving the state of Kentucky.  I remember a couple of years ago, I read the study for a potential I-66 bridge over the Missisippi River, providing a direct connection between Kentucky and Missouri.  As I recall, the study admitted that buiding a four-lane interstate bridge over the river was not cost-effective for the forseeable future, although I think it tried to sugarcoat that conclusion.

If KY 80 needs work between London and Sumerset, then fix KY 80.  But routing a new interstate across the entire state to fix some selected stretches of roadways does not seem a good use of scarce funds.  Just an engineer's (and taxpayer's) opinion.

At some point, something is going to have to be done about the US 60/62 bridges crossing the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Lots of truck traffic every time I have been on them and closing those bridges due to barge impacts, especially the Ohio River crossing, is a frequent occurrence.

Best solution would be a direct route from I-24 near Paducah to I-57 or I-55 somewhere near Sikeston, bypassing Illinois.

[RoadWarrior56]

I believe I saw a very early map or Road Atlas years ago that showed an early alignment of I-24 doing just that.  I would have presumably crossed the Mississippi River directly into Missouri, and provided the Nashville to St. Louis connection via I-55, rather than via I-57 and I-64.

I have no idea how many different alignment alternatives were considered for I-24 west of Nashville, but there is a plaque at the Illinois Welcome station along 24 of some Congressman, who was given credit on that plaque for routing I-24 near Paducah and along its present alignment.  So the western half of I-24 must have had an interesting history.

All I do know is that I didn't see I-24 west of Nashville on any maps in its current location until the mid 1960's.  Construction was was not started on it until well into the 1970's and it was not completed until around 1980.

[leifvanderwall]

The New I-66 project is getting stalled, eh. Good! Hey maybe there will be more money for maintenance on the current I-66 routing in Virginia.

[Revive 755]

I believe I saw a very early map or Road Atlas years ago that showed an early alignment of I-24 doing just that.  I would have presumably crossed the Mississippi River directly into Missouri, and provided the Nashville to St. Louis connection via I-55, rather than via I-57 and I-64.

I have no idea how many different alignment alternatives were considered for I-24 west of Nashville, but there is a plaque at the Illinois Welcome station along 24 of some Congressman, who was given credit on that plaque for routing I-24 near Paducah and along its present alignment.  So the western half of I-24 must have had an interesting history.

There used to be a map online from an EIS that showed many routings considered for I-24 (on the NW Indiana highway site?), including one that met I-57 just north of Cairo, and at least one that met I-55 near Cape Girardeau.  There were also many routes that crossed the Kentucky Lakes much farther south, maybe even one alignment crossing them in Tennessee.

The dissatisfaction with the chosen alignment of I-24 is probably why there is still consideration of routing I-66 through southern Illinois to cross the Mississippi on the Bill Emerson bridge at Cape Girardeau.   

[RoadWarrior56]

I know that when the Interstate system was originally numbered, there was a taboo, if not an outright prohibition, of having an Interstate and US highway with the same number in the same state.   Presumably that is why there was not an I-50 or I-60.  Of course that prohibition has been weakened, if not eliminated, in recent years.  But I digress.

Interstate 24 enters extreme southern Illinois.  US 24 exists across the width of the same state, although over 200 miles further north.  I have always wondered if that happened as early as it did, because when the Interstate system was originally numbered, it was thought by the BPR that one of the southern alignments for I-24 that avoided Illinois altogether is what would be constructed, or that it would not necessarily be extended west beyond Nashville.

To refresh my own memory, I just checked the FHWA website, and I-24 west of Nashville was added to the system in 1957, as part of the initial 1500 mile extension that also included I-70 west of Denver and all of I-77.  But the 1957 vintage map on the website showed I-24 terminating near or south of Cairo, which is more than 30 miles south of its present terminus.

So the previous poster has a point, part of the appeal of I-66 might be to fill that original route, assuming anybody even remembers it.  Of course, that segment could be added to the system as I-X24, I-X55, or I-X57, without designating I-66 across the state of Kentucky.  But I don't hold my breath for that outcome any more than I do to see I-66 in Kentucky.

[hbelkins]

The dissatisfaction with the chosen alignment of I-24 is probably why there is still consideration of routing I-66 through southern Illinois to cross the Mississippi on the Bill Emerson bridge at Cape Girardeau.   

Consideration to routing I-66 through southern Illinois? What consideration to routing I-66 through southern Illinois? The route has been legislatively determined, hasn't it?

[RoadWarrior56]

When I read the study to extend I-66 across the Mississippi River into Missouri, there was an alternative that used the existing I-24 bridge across the Ohio River at Paducah and then would have constructed a new east-west roadway between I-24 and I-57.  I-66 would had then followed I-57 across the Mississippi River north of Cairo.  Thus 66 would had formed a triangle of interstates with I-24 and I-57 in extreme southern Illinois, with no new bridges constructed.

[hbelkins]

IMHO what is really needed is a direct crossing from Kentucky to Missouri.

[RoadWarrior56]

You may be right on the need for a direct Mississipi River crossing, although maybe not as part of an interstate corridor that will never be constructed, and maybe not even as a four-lane facility.  I suspect that I-66 alternative was a way to extend an I-66 into Missouri "on the cheap", without the need to build any new bridges.

[Scott5114]

The New I-66 project is getting stalled, eh. Good! Hey maybe there will be more money for maintenance on the current I-66 routing in Virginia.

There won't be. Virginia is another state and has nothing to do with Kentucky.

[Grzrd]

So claims a report from a local TV station: http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/102655029.html

"On Thursday the first part of this so-called "I-66" opened, although for now it's just a northern extension of the Cumberland Parkway, and in a few years it may become a northern by-pass for Somerset ...

Much of the northern by-pass work is still in progress, with orange barrels narrowing traffic to one lane where clearly a new 4 lane section would seem to exist on the horizon.

Many question if the route will ever become an actual cross country or even cross-state interstate.

Plans eventually call for the interstate to connect all of southern Kentucky, but the next phase could be a route between Somerset and London. Some argue it's a waste of money."

[Alps]

I'd believe it - aerial photography shows something under construction.

[hbelkins]

That's the relocated Cumberland Parkway. It ends at a partial cloverleaf with relocated US 27 north of Somerset.

The reason I chose to have a meet in Somerset in 2007 is because of all the construction going on -- the southwestern bypass (KY 914), the northern bypass (Cumberland Parkway/I-66), a four-lane US 27 north of town, and the construction of a grade-separated interchange at US 27, KY 90 and KY 1247 at Burnside south of Somerset. Plus the water level of Lake Cumberland was down for repairs to the dam and we got to see a lot of old road alignments that had been submerged (such as the old route of KY 80). That was a lot of construction taking place in a relatively small town in a predominately rural area.

[Stephane Dumas]

Once the Cumberland pkwy relocation will open, which name or number the current gap with traffic lights in Somerset will get? Although they could call it like "Old Cumberland pkwy" or rerouting KY-80 there.

[The Premier]

Even though I am very much a highway advocate, this road never made any sense to me.  It doesn't connect any large population centers within Kentucky, and it wouldn't truly connect to any interstates outside of the state of Kentucky.  The route number doesn't even make any sense.  The money that would have been thrown away on I-66 in Kentucky (if it existed) would had been better spent on I-69.  All I can say to this road is "good riddance".

Yet, there's no guarantee that I-69 in Kentucky would even be built in the first place.

[TheStranger]

Yet, there's no guarantee that I-69 in Kentucky would even be built in the first place.

I-69 in Kentucky is being routed though on 95-99% existing road, so it has been built, per se (Pennyrile Parkway, Western Kentucky Parkway, I-24, Purchase Parkway).

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

But they lack the funding for those pesky interstate shields.